Let's run away and don't ever look back

-Katy Perry

"About Noah?" I asked her incredulously. "Why would you want to talk to me about him?"

"Because he's a psycho." She said forcefully. "A full blown psycho. He's lost his mind."

"I don't understand what you're saying." I said slowly.

She cleared her throat. "When I tell you this, I need you to keep an open mind. I know you don't trust me, I've never given you a reason to, but I don't care. I'm telling you this because even though I don't like you, I don't want you to get hurt at the end knowing I could have prevented it."

"O-kay?" I raised an eyebrow. I didn't trust her one bit. "If you think that little speech is gonna make things right between us-"

"Who said anything about making things right?" She questioned. "I'm here to warn you. That's it."

I raised my brow further.

Claire took a deep breath, her eyes meeting mine. "I met Noah the second day he came here. I think that was the day he came to know about you and Theo. He seemed to catch on about my..." She broke off.

"About your infatuation with my boyfriend?" I filled in for her.

Her cheeks turned red, and she cleared her throat again. "He came to know that I liked Theo, it wasn't a secret anyway. I never hid the fact that I found him attractive. Noah came to me and offered me a proposition."

"What kind of proposition?"

"A win win for both of us, he'd said. He wanted my help in breaking you two up. That way he could have you and I could have Theo."

I remembered the night of the boutique inauguration. "And you agreed."

"I agreed." She nodded. "And it was the perfect plan, you know. From what he'd told me about you two as a couple, you both were perfect together. He loved you, I could see it on his face when he talked about you. And at that moment I was too lost in the thoughts of Theo that I didn't see there was something else in him except the love for you."

"What was it?"

"Madness." She whispered. "Maddened possessiveness. He had the primal look of madness when he talked about you and I'd mistaken that for love. Don't get me wrong, he does love you. But there was something else with that. As if he would go mad if he didn't have you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I felt my hands shaking. "He came to my house yesterday." I whispered. "He threatened to hurt Theo if-"

"Yes!" She slapped her hands on her thighs. "That's exactly what I'm trying to say. He told me he kissed you on the night of the inauguration. I'd seen you cry and leave with Theo, so I knew there was something fishy. If you loved him and he kissed you, you surely wouldn't be crying."

"He-he forced himself on me."

"When I came to know about that, I backed out of the deal. I wanted Theo, but that didn't mean I would participate in assaulting someone. He was furious with me, but he said he didn't care and that he would still manage to make you fall for him again. Then I heard about the fight. I went to visit him that day."

"What happened after that?" I asked.

"The maddened look in his eyes increased. He looked possessed. He swore to make Theo pay. He told me he would not let this go. He was mad, Amelia, madder than anyone I've ever seen. He told me that Theo had escalated things a whole lot, and now he would hurt him. He would have you and hurt him at the same time." She whispered the last part.

"Why are you telling me this, Claire?" I asked softly.

She straightened her back. "Theo has been an important part of my life. He had been there for me when I needed someone. It's not about lust this time, Amelia. I'm talking about him as a friend, as someone who's looking out for him. I care for him, and I don't want anything to happen to him. I know you don't as well, so I had to tell you. Your ex boyfriend is crazy, I've seen him be crazy. And I did not want Theo to get hurt because of that."

"Noah is- he wasn't like this before." I said. Noah had been the sweetest, kindest person I'd ever known. It was very hard to imagine he'd changed so much.

"I don't love Theo." She said. "I never loved him more than a friend. I always found him attractive, but I never had feelings for him. And you love him. And I know you make him happy. I told you because even though we've had our differences, if something happened to you he'll not be able to take it. Noah's going to do something. I know it, and I know you know it. I wanted you to be prepared."

I took a deep breath. "Thank you, Claire." I meant it.

She gave me a small smile and turned to leave. "Take care, Amelia."

Ice spread in my veins when I thought about her words. And that ice doubled its pace when I thought of Noah's words at my porch the other night.

You will come back to me, I will make sure of that, even if it means killing him.

I grabbed the basin tightly to steady myself and not fall down. I don't know what I'd do if he hurt Theo, if he took him away from me. Theo was my salvation, my distraction, my happiness, my escape. If Noah did something to him, I'd lose it. I'd go mad. I couldn't lose him, not after everything, not over someone else.

I straightened my back and steadied myself, taking a deep breath. A smile appeared on my face when I saw the forest green eyes in my head, staring at me with love.

No, I couldn't lose him. I couldn't.

"Ugh today was hectic." I dropped down on the bed beside my beautiful girlfriend. "And boring." She ran her fingers through my hair, her nails scrapping my scalp gently, making me sigh in content. I pushed myself up to lie on her lap.

She didn't say anything.

"How was your day?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It was okay, I guess."

"Well, what did you do?"

"Nothing much."

"Is everything okay?" I peered over her. "Mia, are you alright? Did something happen?"

She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Baby, talk to me." I got up to sit in front of her, and cupped her face. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me.

Her face looked pained. "I talked to Claire today."

My eyebrows scrunched. "Huh? About what? Did she say something to you?"

She took a deep breath. "She told me Noah's gone crazy and he's going to do something. She told me that she cares about you and so wanted us to be prepared if he tried something."

I stroked her cheek in response.

Her expression turned into one of panic. "Theo, I'm scared. What if he hurts you? Claire told me she'd gone to visit him the day you punched him and he looked furious and said he would make you pay. What if something happens to you?"

"Nothing will happen to me." I whispered softly.

"How do you know that?" She cried out. "Claire doesn't like me. So if she came to warn me, it must mean it's something serious, right?"

"Angel," I kept my voice as gentle as I could. "Please stop worrying. What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know." She leaned into my hand that was cupping her face. "I just, I can't let something happen to you."

She slid into my arms as I held her tightly, inhaling her intoxicating scent. "Do you want me to go talk to him?"

"What? No!" She clutched onto me tighter.

"I don't understand what he could possibly do more." I said to her. "I've already lost football. There's no way I'm losing you. What could he take away from me?"

"I don't know." She whispered. "It's not about taking something away from you. It's about taking you away from me. He wants you out of the picture so that he could fit in."

"Well, the only way I'm out of the picture is if I'm dead." She sucked in a deep breath when I said that. Her arms tightened around me.

"She also said that they made a deal. Kind of. To break us up."

"What the fuck?"

"Yeah, she told me she wanted you and Noah wanted me so they made a deal."

"Oh damn that's fucked up." I shook my head.

She raised an eyebrow. "That's it? You're not mad? I expected you'd be pissed."

"What do I have to be pissed for?" I shrugged. "You know, I don't care what others do to break us up. Because I'm not letting you go. I don't want Claire. I don't want anyone but you. There could be a lot of people who don't want us to be together, Mia. But what matters is what we both want. And I want you, only you."

"Why do you always have to say the right things?" She murmured.

I grinned. "I've heard I have a way with words, it's innate."

She smiled and shook her head. "What did you do today?"

I groaned. "Moved boxes. My mother decided it would be wonderful to order almost everything that Amazon sells. Her stuff literally came in boxes. And there were many."

She chuckled softly. That made me smile.

I tilted her chin up and pressed a kiss down on her lips. Her tongue swiped my bottom lip as I took hers between my teeth and bit teasingly. I heard the indistinct sound of my phone ringing, but I ignored it.

"Theo," She said against my mouth. "It could someone important."

I grasped her tighter and pushed her closer to me. I groaned when she tore away her mouth from mine and pushed me away, in the direction of the phone. I huffed, glaring at her, but picked it up nonetheless.

"Hello?"

"King, I expect you to be at the fields tomorrow at 5:30 sharp."

"Wha-what? Coach, what do you mean?" I felt Mia freeze beside me.

I heard him smile from the other end. "I told you I won't let you get off the team."

"I-I don't understand."

"I went over to the board today. Said I wanted you back."

"And they agreed?" I asked, shocked.

"They had to. They didn't have an option. Your team disagreed to play."

"What?" I felt my heart quicken up its pace.

"They didn't let you down, Theo." He said. "They said they won't play without their captain. And you are their captain."

I clutched the end of the bed tightly.

"I couldn't let some stupid boy ruin your career for you. I went over to the board to tell them neither the players would play, nor would I supervise, if they kick you off."

"I-I-" I had no words. I was speechless.

"I want you on the grounds at 5:30."

"I- thank you, Coach." I blinked. My throat was closing up.

He hung up, but I still had the phone plastered to my ear. I was waiting for someone to shake me and make me realize this was all a dream. But no one did. Mia moved beside me, clutching my phone and taking it away from my hand. My arm fell down to my side.

"Theo?"

"They took me back." I said, still in shock.

Sheer joy was visible on her face. She flung her arms around me.

"I'm still in the team, Mia. They're letting me play." I said to her, but it was more to convince myself that this was real and not just my imagination.

"Baby, I'm so happy for you."

"They didn't let me down." I whispered. "My team didn't let me down."

*